Do You Support Access To Affordable Birth Control

Nationwide, activists are turning out to support protections for Title X and access to affordable birth control.

The fight to protect Title X is, for the majority of people, personal. Title X is the nation’s only federal program dedicated to affordable reproductive health care — from cancer screenings to birth control — to millions of people a year, many of whom don’t even know that they benefit from the program. The Title X program helps providers like Planned Parenthood offer low-cost or free preventive care to those struggling to make ends meet.

On one hand, that makes it hard to talk about Title X: why would people fight for something that they don’t even know is helping them? On the other hand, as soon as people learn just what this program does, they want to know: how can I get involved? How do I best support access to affordable birth control and other care?

Here’s the answer: we have to show up and let Congress know that reproductive health care is popular. Gag rules — like the one the Trump administration is using to dismantle the Title X program — are not. Our politicians have to know that this is an issue that can and will make them or break them.

Birth control is popular. Gag rules are not. We’re watching to see who votes to protect access to affordable reproductive health care — and who stays silent. #IStandWithPP #ProtectX

Tweet NowAcross the Country, a Groundswell
In this last year, we’ve seen hundreds of actions — 270 that involved Planned Parenthood and its affiliates alone — to support Title X and access to Planned Parenthood. This past week, supporters turned out to #StandWithPP in cities across the country. Activists crowded Congressional offices, hosted letter-writing parties and held rallies in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia. Many of the activists were young people, including high school and college students rallying on their campuses.

If you need some #Inspiration, here are some amazing snaps of supporters vowing to #StandWithPP and protect our access to health care:

Ohio
Ohio voters and activists rallied to hold Sen. Rob Portman accountable to his thousands of constituents that rely on Title X for their health care.

New Mexico
Activists and voters in New Mexico (and a few of their furry friends!) traveled to the state capitol in Santa Fe to rally in support of Planned Parenthood and demand that Congress #ProtectX.

Connecticut
Gay Black Pride in Connecticut teamed up with Planned Parenthood’s Protect X Day of Action to call on Congress to #ProtectX and advocate for reproductive health care for all.

West Virginia
Two dozen West Virginians rallied across the state and at the state capitol to call on members of Congress to stand with Planned Parenthood and #ProtectX.

(more from West Virginia)

New Hampshire
In New Hampshire, activists and supporters of Planned Parenthood teamed up for the National Day of Action to voice support for Title X and the millions of people who get their essential health care through the program.

Missouri
Supporters in Missouri stood with Planned Parenthood and spoke up against the Trump administration’s dangerous gag rule that puts essential reproductive health care for four million people at risk.

> People across the country are outraged — their health care hangs in the balance, and Republican leaders are preventing Congress from taking action. We need Congress to act now to reverse the Trump administration’s harmful gag rule, and protect birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and more for millions of people.

– Alexis McGill Johnson Acting President, Planned Parenthood

These events come after Senate Republican leaders cancelled a vote last week on the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) spending bill in a desperate attempt to block the passage of an amendment to reverse the harmful Title X gag rule. New polling shows that voters in Arizona, Colorado and key swing Congressional districts nationwide oppose the Trump administration’s Title X gag rule, and are less likely to support legislators that don’t act to block it.

On August 19, Planned Parenthood Federation of America announced that the Trump administration had forced Planned Parenthood grantees out of Title X, through an unethical gag rule. The medical community, public health experts, and thegeneral public are against this rule. In addition to the American Medical Association, the gag rule has been opposed by other major medical associations, like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, as well as 110 public health organizations, and public health experts such as former U.S. surgeon general Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, and many others. A group of 19 different medical organizations, mayors, state lawmakers, over 200 Members of Congress, newly elected Democraticgovernors, andseveral other governors have opposed this rule as well.

Thousands of calls helped to persuade members of Congress to protect the the Title X program in the House. If we do the same in the Senate, we can undo the Trump-Pence administration’s dangerous Title X gag rule.

Call NowTags:birth control,Title X Gag Rule,Title X,ProtectX